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Museum of Nature & Science Paleontologists Discover New Dinosaur Species

New species will be named Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum in honor of the Perot family’s generosity to the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas

Paleontologists from the Museum of Nature & Science will announce the discovery of a new species of the ceratopsid dinosaur Pachyrhinosaurus at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 71st Annual Meeting to be held Nov. 2 – 5, 2011 in Las Vegas.

The new species will be formally named the Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, in recognition of the Perot family (Margot and H. Ross Perot and their children), who have demonstrated a long history of supporting science and science education for the public and for their support of the Museum of Nature & Science, located in Dallas, Texas.

In conjunction with the announcement, a draft of the paper that describes the find was posted recently at the website of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, an international quarterly journal that features papers of general interest from all areas of paleontology. Jointly submitted by Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D., the Museum’s chief curator and director of research, and Ronald S. Tykoski, Ph.D., chief fossil preparator at the Museum, the paper is entitled “A new species of the centrosaurine ceratopsid Pachyrhinosaurus from the North Slope (Prince Creek Formation: Maastrichtian) of Alaska.” The new dinosaur was discovered on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and the research was funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs. The final paper will be published by the end of this year.

Image: Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, Illustration by Karen Carr

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